Tesla’s Pigeon
An inventor, a bird, and a plan to connect all the minds in the world.
By Amanda Gefter via @NautilusMag
Nikola Tesla's Obsession with Pigeons, Electricity, and a Plan to Wirelessly Connect the World
science
American bacteriological chemist, food scientist and refrigeration engineer Mary Engle Pennington was born #OTD in 1872.
She was a pioneer in the preservation, handling, storage and transportation of perishable foods and the first female lab chief at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She was awarded 5 patents, received the Notable Service Medal from President Herbert Hoover and the Garvin-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society.
What do planet formation and badminton have in common?
From @ArsTechnica: "Dust grains in protoplanetary disks align via the same aerodynamics as the sport."
See the full paper here: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stae2248/7783265?login=false
For more space news, follow @space-ScienceAlert
#OTD in 1846.
William T. G. Morton administers ether anesthesia during a surgical operation, by the use of inhaled ether.
A month after this demonstration, a patent was issued for "letheon", although it was widely known by then that the inhalant was ether. The promotion of his questionable claim to have been the discoverer of anesthesia became an obsession for the rest of his life.
Lise Meitner died #OTD in 1968.
She is known for her part in the discovery of nuclear fission. Among physicists she had been known for many years as one of the early pioneers in the study of radioactivity. Einstein nicknamed her ‘the German Madame Curie’.
Edited 1y ago
The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope is assembling the largest 3D map of the universe ever made.
The first section is now complete. Take a look at what happens when you zoom in...
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/Zoom_into_the_first_page_of_ESA_Euclid_s_great_cosmic_atlas #space #science #astronomy #nature
Oops,
Pocket mammoths really existed. I only knew them from Elder Scrolls Online:
https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Pocket_Mammoth_(pet)
But according to @wikipedia, they also existed on Crete:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammuthus_creticus
Image from @uesp
#Mammoth #Mastodon #Gaming #Science #Paleontology #NaturalHistory #ElderScrollsOnline
Edited 1y ago
Stars behaving absurdly
For centuries, the only way in which to illuminate the mysteries of black holes was through the power of mathematics.
As celestial entities go, black holes are, paradoxically, both commonplace and extraordinary. They could be seen as commonplace due to their general ubiquity.
By Steve Nadis and Shing-Tung Yau via @aeonmag
#OTD in 1879.
Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (lasting 13,5 hours before burning out).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb
U.S. patent 0,223,898 by Thomas Edison for an improved electric lamp, 27 January 1880:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US223898
Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/820
Edited 1y ago
Quick reminder that NASA currently has a solar sail in Earth orbit, flapping its wings in the flow of sunshine.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/10/22/update-on-nasas-advanced-composite-solar-sail-system/ #space #science #nasa #tech
Viruses Through the Looking-Glass
The electron microscope brought about a paradigm shift in virology in the middle of the twentieth century.
By: Danny Robb via @JSTOR_Daily
Italian physicist and academic, first woman to have doctorate in science Laura Bassi was born #OTD in 1711. Bassi became the most important populariser of Newtonian mechanics in Italy.
Working to Preserve The Man Who Weighed the World
By Corinne Mona
March for Science Posters
— Beyond Curie is a design project that highlights badass women in science, technology, engineering + mathematics.
by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
Astronomers from The University of New Mexico, along with U.S. and international researchers, have confirmed the existence of a new giant exoplanet, made possible through a collaboration with citizen scientists around the world.
Several key programs enabled this global effort, including the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Sub Group 1, the Unistellar Citizen Science Network, and the TESS Single Transit Planet Candidate Working Group.
PRESS RELEASE: https://www.seti.org/press-release/seti-institute-strengthens-science-advisory-board-five-new-members
The SETI Institute welcomed five new experts to its Science Advisory Board (SAB), broadening its scope in important scientific and ethical domains essential to understanding life and intelligence in the universe. The new members bring expertise in science communication, ethics and philosophy, animal cognition and intelligence, analysis of extraterrestrial materials, and planetary astronomy.
Although the peer review system might not be optimal all the times, as it is a victim of the weaknesses of individual reviewers, at least authors can have a little fun at their expense.
#science
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360319924043957
![As strongly requested by the reviewers, here we cite some references [[35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47]] although they are completely irrelevant to the present work.](/proxy/post_attachment/516897/9b95190267.jpeg "As strongly requested by the reviewers, here we cite some references [[35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47]] although they are completely irrelevant to the present work.")
I really can't wait until I can revert to just posting about #climatechange, #water, and #science rather than garbage, racism, sexism, and the threat of a fascist takeover of America.
So, here's a pretty picture of water for now.
Edited 1y ago
Two unusual things happened on Earth around 460 million years ago: a bunch of asteroid impacts near the equator & an intense global cold spell.
Possibly both were the result of an asteroid that broke up & gave our planet a pretty but deadly set of rings.
https://eos.org/articles/a-close-asteroid-encounter-may-have-once-given-earth-a-ring #space #science #nature
Are the colours in astronomical images real? What do these colours mean? And what about images that aren't taken in visible light?
We get these questions all the time, so in the latest episode of Chasing Starlight we show you how these colourful images are made:
The death toll in the tragic flash floods that ravaged Texas Hill Country continues to rise, and the National Weather Service has taken some heat from officials who say the organization didn’t prepare them for the enormity of the storm. Meteorologists who talked to @WIRED paint a much different picture:
Back up everything friends! https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/noaa-research-websites-go-dark-saturday-night #science #uspol
Although the Nonprofit Industrial Complex has some sophisticated gatekeepers barring access, I've renewed my efforts to find San Francisco Bay Area cooperators interested in my proposed nonprofit for unique S.T.E.A.M.-focused ArtScience demonstration projects that serve the common good.
While general participants are welcome, I need the commitment of board-level founders.
#SFBA, #EastBay, #NonProfit, #Research, #Design, #Development, #CitizenScience, #Science, #Technology, #Engineering, #Arts, #Math, #Cooperative, #Mutualism, #Prefigurative
Why did Louis de Broglie, Nobel laureate in physics, abandon his own pilot wave theory?
By Laurie Letertre
Such a great story! 😍
"Fold paper. Insert lens. This $2 microscope changes how kids see the world"
https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/11/24/g-s1-35181/microscope-lens-students-foldscope
"Once assembled the Foldscope is the size of a bookmark. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket and can magnify up to 140 times.
Each unit costs around $2 to make. Foldscopes are offered for free to kids in lower income countries; various upgraded models with extras are sold as well, earning money for the charitable endeavor."