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San Francisco, 11:22 AM
Tue Feb 9
25 posts in the last 24 hours

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#spaceporn

The Space Shuttle Blasts Into The Night

Early this morning in the pre-dawn hours, the space shuttle Endeavor shot into space for a two-week trip to the International Space Station. This will be its last nighttime launch. More »
02/08/10
2,0942,094 views on this post
36
By Annalee Newitz
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10


Spooky sun halo over Cambodia.

Details here: [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #sciencetips #spaceporn Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10

@Roklimber: Awesome photo and explanation. Their archive page is worth bookmarking and going back to.
Anyone who likes the sun and clouds should have polarized sunglasses. I have to where them due to my eyes' sensitivity to light and glare and I am always seeing the most beautiful effects. Living in New Mexico helps, I think.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment
Edited by mamadragon49 at 02/08/10 12:07 PM

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10

@mamadragon49:

Indeed, on all accounts.

Incidentally, here's something cool that not many people know about polarized filters (which is what polarized sun glasses are).

It turns out that if you look directly towards the sun or directly away from the sun, the light from the sun scattered by the atmosphere back to you is *not* polarized in any specific direction.

On the other hand, if you look towards the sky at a direction perpendicular to the line connecting you and the sun (in other words, the sun is to your left or to your right), then the sunlight scattered back to you is *highly* polarized along the vertical direction.

So, if you go out on a clear day, you can "map" the sky with your polarized sunglasses, by looking at various directions and rotating your glasses for each direction you choose. You'll see regions of brightness and other regions where the sky isn't so bright.

Now, this is actually a cool and easy experiment that anyone can do and it's great to do with children. (Just be careful when looking towards the sun.)

The more important aspect of it, though, is that in latitudes where the sun is just below the horizon during most of the time (the nordic regions, for instance), you can actually tell where the sun is without ever actually seeing it.

According to something I read long ago (I can't remember the source) this is something that the Vikings took advantage of and which helped them navigate the nordic seas. They didn't have polarized sunglasses, of course, but they knew about quartz, which is a naturally occurring dichroic substance.

(Dichroism is the technical name for the dependence of a material's absorptive power on the polarization state of the incident light wave)

Another cool simple experiment you can do at home with polarized sunglasses requires a light source, two pairs of polarized sunglasses, and a flexible plastic ruler.

Keep one set of sunglasses fixed. Have one person twist the plastic ruler while you look at it through the other pair of sunglasses. It's important that the ruler be located between the two pairs of sunglasses. Of course, you need the light source (say, a light bulb) behind the fixed pair of sunglasses.

As your friend twists the plastic ruler, you'll see lots of weird shapes (you may need to rotate your sunglasses to see them). This is an example of the so-called Faraday effect and has to do with the fact that applying stress to certain materials changes their optical properties.

The Faraday effect is extremely useful as a tool to find defects in industrial molds and in scaled models of aircrafts. They make transparent molds and models, then use the Faraday effect to find points of undue stress.

#tips Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10

@Roklimber: Can you help me out here? I've been aware for many years of the effects of polarizing lense because of photography. Having had to wear polarized sunglasses for the past twenty years or so has given me the opportunity to discover all kinds of effects they cause. My understanding was that they block scattered light waves caused by reflections but after reading several articles in wikpedia today, I'm a bit confused. Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?
BTW. It is overcast but we have oodles of puddles from melting snow. I could pinpoint where the sun is even tho it is well hidden by standing in such a way that puddles to my right and left were affected (i.e. didn't reflect the sky) but one in front of me was not. I could verify it by the time of day.

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10

@mamadragon49:

"My understanding was that they block scattered light waves caused by reflections but after reading several articles in wikpedia today, I'm a bit confused. Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?"

I'll first try to explain what polarization is by using an example that has nothing to do with light, then I'll address your question more directly.

Imagine that you and I are some distance apart, each holding one end of a long rope. Now imagine that you move your hand up and down (that is, vertically), producing a wave that travels along the rope, towards me. That wave oscillates only up and down so, at any time, the entire rope occupies a vertical plane. We say that the wave you just created is vertically polarized.

Now imagine we start again, but this time you move your hand from left to right and back. The wave now generated will oscillate in a horizontal plane, and we say that the wave is horizontally polarized.

(Incidentally, these two examples are referred to as linear polarizations, for reasons that will become clear in a moment)

Similarly, you could move your hand along a "diagonal" direction, not left-right and not up-down, but, say, northeast-southwest and back. This would also create a linearly polarized wave, just one that lies on a plane that is neither horizontal nor vertical.

Finally, imagine that you move your hand in a circle. I hope you can see that the generated wave will move in such a way that its crests rotate around the direction of motion, while they move towards me. It's much like a corkscrew. This is now an example of a circularly polarized wave.

Now, suppose that I build a wall separating the two of us and suppose that the wall has a vertical slit barely wider than the width of the rope. I then pass the rope through the slit and we start our game again.

As you produce a wave, regardless of what kind of polarization you give it, once it passes the slit, it will be oscillating only up and down. The wall works as a polarizer, that is, it forces a specific kind of polarization state.

Ok, how does all this apply to light and reflections and sunglasses?

Light propagates as an electromagnetic wave. Electric charges move around in some periodic fashion (just like your hand did in our rope game) and a wave of electric and magnetic fields is produced.

Exactly like in the case of the rope, this light wave can be polarized in many different ways, linearly, circularly, or even randomly polarized, which we refer to as unpolarized. This is just as if you were to produce a wave by moving your hand in some random fashion, sometimes up/down, sometimes left/right, sometimes in a circle, and so on, totally randomly.

Now, sunlight, as it leaves the sun, is generally unpolarized. When it passes through a single polarizer lens, that light wave is forced to oscillate along only one direction - it's now linearly polarized - exactly as with the rope and the slit on the wall.

If we then make that light pass through another polarizer oriented perpendicularly to the first, no light will pass through, just as if I had a horizontal slit on a second wall in our rope game.

I hope this helps you understand how a polarizer lens or filter works. Amazingly, the rope analogy is nearly perfect. It's only the physical mechanisms behind which are different in each case (one is a mechanical wave, the other is an electromagnetic one); all the polarization stuff is exactly the same in both cases.

Ok, now let's talk reflection. As it happens (and this is tricky to explain without getting much more technical), when light reflects off smooth materials (glass, metal surfaces, smooth walls, etc) the reflection can change the polarization state of the wave. Essentially, for example, left-right oscillations are absorbed while up/down oscillations are reflected back nearly unchanged.

So, reflection can also turn an unpolarized wave into a linearly polarized one, by absorbing the oscillations along all directions except one.

And now you see why polarized sunglasses are a cool invention. When you look at sunlight reflected off a window, for example, the light wave coming towards you has been converted into a linearly polarized wave. If your sunglasses have a polarization axis that is at an angle with respect to the direction of polarization of that reflected light wave, part of that light wave will be absorbed by the material of the sunglasses, thus decreasing the intensity of the light wave that does reach your eyes.

What about scattering? Sunlight hits atoms in the atmosphere and that light wave interacts with the electrons in the atoms of the gasses in the atmosphere. The electrons absorb and then re-emit that light wave. In the process, it is also possible for the resulting light wave to have a particular polarization state, though that is typically not the case.

The reason why looking at the sky at 90 degree angles allows you to see (linearly) polarized waves is not because the scattering itself changed the polarization state of the incident sunlight, but it's the result of a geometrical property of light (technically, it's because light is a transverse wave - it always oscillates in a direction perpendicular to the direction it travels).

So, on to your question now.

"Is polarized light scattered light waves and then polarized lens unpolarize it or vice versa?"

Neither. Polarized light is light whose electric and magnetic fields oscillate in a specific pattern (up/down, or left/right, or diagonally, or circularly, etc). That, by itself, has nothing to do with scattering.

Scattering is the process by which the direction light travels is changed when it interacts with a large number of nearly free electrons, such as what you'd find in the atoms of the atmosphere.

A polarizer lens has a special "axis." Any oscillation along that axis passes unchanged. Any oscillation not along that axis gets absorbed, and the degree of absorption increases the more away from that axis the oscillation happens. Think of the slit in the wall again. That slit is the polarization axis of the wall.

So, a polarizer lens forces a specific polarization state to any light wave that goes through the lens. If that wave has the right polarization (agreeing with the polarization axis of the lens), it's allowed to pass through. Otherwise, the wave loses energy due to absorption.

I hope this explanation has helped you and I apologize for the novel-length post.

#tips Reply

Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10

@Roklimber: Gosh thats amazing!!!

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10

@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard):

The picture certainly is.

Unless you're complimenting me for typing two very long posts, in which case I say thanks. :)

#tips Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 02/08/10 4:22 PM

Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) 02/08/10

@Roklimber: The posts are cool and informative. But if im honest........its the picture..

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/08/10

@CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard):

That's ok by me. I don't post this long comments to fish for compliments. Besides, the picture *is* rather awesome. :)

#tips Reply

Image of mamadragon49 mamadragon49 02/08/10

@Roklimber: Well, the picture is what got me thinking about all this. As for your explanation, anything shorter would not have provided me with what I wanted to understand. I don't think I can take it all in with one reading but I will study it until I really get it. Your examples are very understandable. Seems someone should get those into wikipedia's entry about polarization. Thanks

#tips Reply
Roklimber promoted this comment

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 03:22 AM

@mamadragon49:

Things would be easier to explain and understand with pictures, animations and such. Unfortunately, this isn't the best medium for all that. Feel free to ask more, if you'd like.

#tips Reply

See 10 replies Hide 10 replies
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/05/10


Mars sand storm over icy pole

Details here: [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 02/05/10 5:33 AM

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
#earthporn

Astronauts Are Tweeting Pictures Of The Earth

This isn't your first close-up of another planet's biosphere... it's actually the Maldives islands on Earth, as viewed from the International Space Station. A couple of ISS astronauts have been twittering amazing pictures of our planet. More »
02/04/10
20,61620,616 views on this post
23
By Charlie Jane Anders
#spaceporn

The Parasitic Bond Of Intimacy Between A Black Hole And A Massive, Dying Star

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most distant black hole ever observed. Six million light years from Earth, it lies at the heart of a spiral galaxy, and is rapidly orbiting and eating a massive star. More »
02/03/10
5,8545,854 views on this post
43
By Annalee Newitz
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 02/02/10


Mars and a Colorful Lunar Fog Bow
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
#afternoonreading

Let Doctor Who Explain This Supernova To You

Astronomers witnessed a supernova in progress, observing jets of material moving at relativistic speeds: up to half the speed of light. Scientist Megan Argo wanted to explain this exciting discovery to the public, so she wrote a Doctor Who story. More »
02/01/10
4,6944,694 views on this post
20
By Charlie Jane Anders
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/30/10


M88...

Details here:
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/29/10


Mars in Opposition.

Details at [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn #science Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/27/10


Death Star photographed near Titan...

Details here: [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 01/27/10 12:09 AM

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/25/10

The White Mountain - a time lapse movie
[www.flickr.com]

This is a beautiful time-lapse movie of the night sky in Hawaii, at Mauna Kea. Stars galore!

#tips #spaceporn Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/25/10

Watch Jupiter rotate. For explanations, point your browser here: [antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

#tips #spaceporn #jupiter Reply
Edited by Roklimber at 01/25/10 2:20 AM

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/22/10

Another round of science-related news...

I need to increase my supply of clones, 'cause I'm having trouble keeping up with all the reading.

==========

#spaceporn

Photo of the longest annular solar eclipse for the next 1,000 years, which happened on Jan 15th
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

===

Mars images galore...
[hirise.lpl.arizona.edu]

===

Resumed Mars Orbiter Observations Yield Stunning Views
[www.sciencedaily.com]

==========

#physics

Radio pulses from pulsar appear to move faster than light
[www.physorg.com]

Something to give all the pseudo-scientists around the world a reason to claim, yet again, that they knew relativity was wrong all along. Except... it's probably still fine, thank you very much.

===

Quantum simulation of a relativistic particle
[www.physorg.com]

If you can't do it with computers, let nature do it for you...

Scientists used a quantum system they understand well to simulate something (about another quantum system) that's predicted theoretically but is too difficult to simulate using standard computers.

===

A solid case of entanglement
[www.physorg.com]

Showing that electrons in an electric circuit can be entangled is a crucial step towards quantum computation. That step has now been achieved.

===

Quantum age edges closer
[www.physorg.com]

The 1940s to 1960s were the nuclear age, the 1980s were the start of the computer age. Behold the beginning of the quantum age...

===

Iowa State physicists beginning to see data from the Large Hadron Collider
[www.physorg.com]

Keeping abreast of what the LHC is up to... No, it hasn't destroyed the world with a micro black-hole yet, in case you're wondering.

==========

#biology #medicalscience #stemcells

New Way to Generate Abundant Functional Blood Vessel Cells from Human Stem Cells Discovered
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Problems with your blood vessels and arteries? No problem. Soon you'll be able to have new ones grown for you.

===

New Concoction Reprograms Differentiated Cells Into Pluripotent Stem Cells
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Now, this is awesome news. Turn any old already differentiated stem cell back into an undifferentiated stem cell, and a pluripotent one too!

==========

#biomimicry

Unusual Snail Shell Could Be a Model for Better Armor
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Learning from nature, at a snail pace...

==========

#spiders

Killer funnel-web spiders invade Sydney
[www.independent.co.uk]

I'd love to have one of these as a pet. You know, to tell strangers away when they knock on my door.

==========

#evolution

'Survival of the Cutest' Proves Darwin Right
[www.sciencedaily.com]

As if there was any real doubt...

==========

#gaming

Video Gamers: Size of Brain Structures Predicts Success
[www.sciencedaily.com]

==========

#tips Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/21/10

If you have ever seen the "Powers of Ten" video from a few decades ago and geeked out on it, prepare yourself for its 2009 update...

This is an AWESOME movie, taking you on a trip from the surface of the Earth to the edges of the universe, and back, with images that are ALL based on the best astronomical knowledge available today.

This is space porn raised to a whole new level.

Make sure to read the explanatory blurb that accompanies the video, here:

[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

The video itself is available on YouTube, so I'm linking directly to it too.

#tips #spaceporn Reply

See 0 reply Hide 0 reply
#spaceporn

Nebulas And Neighboring Galaxies, Photographed From A Garden Shed

Office worker Peter Shah took this picture by sticking an eight-inch telescope through the roof of his garden shed. He tells the Mirror, "It just goes to show that a window to the universe is there for all of us." More »
01/21/10
3,1423,142 views on this post
15
By Charlie Jane Anders
#spaceporn

The Dunes of Mars, Covered In A Crust Of Dry Ice

At the bottom of a crater on Mars, these dunes are covered in sheets of dry ice. As sand blows across the top of the ice, the sheets break up and blow apart, creating these streaks and lozenges. More »
01/20/10
3,8503,850 views on this post
24
By Annalee Newitz
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/18/10

Wow... a LOT of science-related news circulating the internets today... Here are some of the things I've seen:

==========

#asteroids

Earth to Get Close Shave Wednesday From Newly Discovered Asteroid
[www.wired.com]

Wednesday’s Near-Earth Asteroid Caught on Film
[www.wired.com]

==========

#spaceporn

Nice photo of Atlantis taking off to orbit
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

No, not the Atlantis from the Pegasus galaxy...

===

Awesome picture of a solar eclipse
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

===

Yet another proof that Anders really did take the Galactica and fleet into the sun:
[antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov]

==========

#physics

Physicists develop 3D metamaterial nanolens that achieves super-resolution imaging
[www.physorg.com]

Beating the diffraction limit is quite an achievement and is an amazingly useful technological feat.

===

Jetting into the Quark-Gluon Plasma
[www.physorg.com]

This is about recreating one of the most peculiar forms of matter, not "seen" since the very beginning of the universe.

===

Physicists Tie Light in Knots
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Other than showing that no branch of math is esoteric enough for nature to use, I can't see what this is good for. (And I'm typically quite open-minded when it comes to finding applications for theoretical ideas)

==========

#biology #medicalscience

Artificial Muscles Restore Ability to Blink, Save Eyesight
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Synthetic muscles? What's next? Synthetic alcohol and synthetic lieutenants? (If you don't get the reference, watch the episode "Relics" of Star Trek The Next Generation)

===

Search for an Artificial Blood Substitute
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Vampires rejoice! TrueBlood is coming...

===

Why Mice Develop 'Knots' While Exploring a New Environment
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Torturing mice for the sake of science...

==========

#robots #cylons

Walking Robot Switches Gaits Autonomously and Flexibly
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Next step, cylons...

==========

#NASA

NASA to sell space shuttles, at a discount
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

===

Cocaine found near shuttle hangar
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

For astronauts, there's more than one way to get high...

==========

Other stuff...

Darpa: U.S. Geek Shortage Is National Security Risk
[www.wired.com]

Time for geeks to step up...

===

Flying cars and other promised goods that we're still waiting for
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

===

7 Common Survival Tactics (that Will Get You Killed)
[www.cracked.com]

This is not only useful but the writing is hilarious too!

===

Pink snow hits Buffalo (video)
[www.huffingtonpost.com]

==========

Phew! Good thing I don't sleep much, or else I wouldn't have time to read all this stuff!

Enjoy!

#tips Reply

Image of Ruthless, If yøu let me Ruthless, If yøu let me 01/19/10

@Roklimber: Whoo... that's a lot of reading. I better get cracking.

#tips Reply

Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/19/10

@Ruthless, If you let me: Tell me about it... In days like this I get nothing else done. :)

#tips Reply

See 2 replies Hide 2 replies
#solarporn

The Sun's Trailing Halo Of Shining Dust, Seen After Sunset

This image isn't a far-off galaxy or comet — it's space dust right in our backyard. You're seeing the zodiacal light, a triangle of glowing space dust between the Earth and the Sun, briefly visible after sunset. More »
01/18/10
4,3144,314 views on this post
21
By Charlie Jane Anders
#planetporn

New Evidence For Seas of Liquid Diamond On Neptune

Remote gas giant planets Neptune and Uranus could be covered in vast seas of liquid diamond, dotted with solid diamond chunks like icebergs. A new experiment revealed such oceans are plausible, and would explain some oddities about Neptune's magnetic field. More »
01/18/10
13,39513,395 views on this post
96
By Annalee Newitz
#spaceporn

You Could Have Taken This Photo Of The Orion Nebula Yourself — With A Lot Of Patience

How many celestial bodies can you see in this image of the Great Nebula in Orion, which an amateur astrophotographer took with a Stellarvue 70mm telescope and a modified Canon XT camera? Apparently, there are a dozen, including two nebulas. More »
01/13/10
3,7603,760 views on this post
15
By Charlie Jane Anders
Image of Roklimber Roklimber 01/13/10

Astronomers Capture First Direct Spectrum of an Exoplanet
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Not like Earth, but that's just a matter of time.

===

New Stroke Therapy Successful in Rats: Protein Completely Restores Motor Function
[www.sciencedaily.com]

We should have an official world holiday to celebrate the kind of rats used in medical research, don't you think?

===

First Known Instance of a Cricket as an Orchid Pollinator Captured on Film
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Cricket-Orchid sex at its best.

===

Trees photographed on Mars? Er... no, but it sure looks like trees.

[hirise.lpl.arizona.edu]

#tips #madscience #spaceporn Reply

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