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Carnivalia ? 9/16 ? 9/22
2009-09-23 13:56:00
The past week's selection of science-related blog carnivals...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Math , Humanity

Scientific tourist #91 ? the Viking lander
2009-09-21 14:07:00
This week's image is a scan of an old photograph I took at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (i.e., JPL) in Pasadena, California back in the late 1980's -- its an image of an engineering model of the Viking landers...
More About: Space , History , Mars , Tourist

Casual Friday ? the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)
2009-09-18 13:29:00
The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) was developed and built in Japan to help supply the International Space Station...
More About: Astronomy , Friday

Carnivalia ? 9/09 ? 9/15
2009-09-16 14:09:00
The past week's crop of (mostly) science-related blog carnivals awaits your reading attention...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Humanity , Geology

Scientific tourist #90 ? the RL-10 rocket engine
2009-09-14 14:08:00
This week's image comes to you from the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamagordo, New Mexico -- it's a cutaway of an RL-10 rocket engine...
More About: Technology , Engine , Rocket

Should be all better now?
2009-09-14 05:57:00
Just so everybody’s up to date with what’s going on, I rebuilt the site’s database over the weekend, and it looks like nothing important was lost. Meanwhile, I’ve slimmed the site down a bit (got rid of some bells & whistles), in the hopes that this will help avoid a recurrence of these problems. So the ...
More About: Site News

Casual Friday ? Hubble, reborn
2009-09-11 14:51:00
You probably recall that earlier this summer, NASA conducted the fourth (and almost certainly last) servicing mission of the Hubble space telescope...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Reborn , Friday

Pardon my dust?
2009-09-10 13:12:00
Database is messed up, I'll need to pop the hood and mess around over the next few days...
More About: Site News

Carnivalia ? 9/02 ? 9/08
2009-09-09 15:04:00
The last week's selection of science-related blog carnival goodness...
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Humanity , Critical thinking

Scientific tourist #89 ? McElmo masonry
2009-09-07 14:14:00
This week's image is a scan of an old slide I shot in Chaco Canyon on a trip way back in the 1980's...
More About: History , Humanity , Tourist

Casual Friday ? Shuttle-derived launch vehicles
2009-09-04 13:23:00
A different approach to the problem of getting crews and gear into space...
More About: Technology , Space , Vehicles , Friday , Launch

The scientific tourist #24 ? Lowell?s globes
2008-06-10 13:40:00
This week's "sciencey" image comes from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #24 — Lowell’s globes", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/06/10/ the_scientific_tourist_24_--_/" });
More About: Space , History , Astronomy , Tourist

Casual Friday ? Ulysses at mission?s end
2008-06-06 14:35:00
It's always sad to see an old friend fade away, even when that friend is a robot. Such is the case for the international (but largely ESA-driven) Ulysses mission to study the Sun. Launched in 1990, the spacecraft has been powered by RTGs (radioisotope thermoelectric generators), and they are now generating so little power that the spacecraft is slowly freezing to death. Here's a video from happier times -- a 15th anniversary commemoration put out by NASA in 2005... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Casual Friday — Ulysses at mission’s end", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/06/06/ casual_friday_--_ulysses_at_missions_end/ " });
More About: Space , History , Mission , Tubing

Episode 20 ? Wet Mars / White Mars
2008-06-05 04:23:00
There have been a number of hypotheses / theories trotted out over the years in an effort to explain the role that water has played (if any) in the history of Mars . Some of them have had a scientific basis, others have been more culturally based. Currently, the crop has really been thinned down to just two main theories, or at least, families of theories. Tune in to hear both the human and geological history of water on Mars, and a bit of background on the argument you'll hear subtly running in the background in related press releases... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Episode 20 — Wet Mars / White Mars", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/06/05/ episode_20_--_wet_mars_white_mars/" });
More About: Space , History , Astronomy

Carnivalia ? 5/28 - 6/3
2008-06-04 14:22:00
The past week's bevy of science-related blog carnivals awaits your reading attentions SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Carnivalia — 5/28 - 6/3", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/06/04/ carnivalia_--_528_-_63/" });
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology

The scientific tourist #23 ? fossilized roots
2008-06-03 14:13:00
For this week's images (I sort of skipped last week, so today you get two!), we're going back to the White Sands National Monument... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #23 — fossilized roots", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/06/03/ the_scientific_tourist_23_--_fossilized_r oots/" });
More About: Biology , Roots , Geology , Tourist

Casual Friday ? how to melt a beer bottle in your microwave
2008-05-30 09:39:00
If you'd like to see somebody else risk their perfectly good microwave oven, here's video from a site (appropriately) titled "Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments"...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Casual Friday — how to melt a beer bottle in your microwave", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/30/ casual_friday_--_how_to_melt_a_beer_bottl e_in_your_microwave/" });
More About: Beer , Bottle

Seriously cool T-shirts
2008-05-29 13:39:00
I stumbled across a great online T-shirt shop, courtesy of a mention in Pharyngula. It's called the Retropolis Transit Authority, and has lots of cool alternative-future oriented stuff (think steampunk, and you're halfway there)... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Seriously cool T-shirts", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/29/ seriously_cool_t-shirts/" });
More About: Cool , Shirts , T-Shirts , T shirts

Carnivalia ? 5/21 - 5/27
2008-05-28 14:19:00
There's plenty of good reading in last week's (mostly) science-related blog carnivals... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Carnivalia — 5/21 - 5/27", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/28/ carnivalia_--_521_-_527/" });
More About: Space , Astronomy , Biology , Humanity , Geology

The scientific tourist #22 ? Phoenix on Mars!
2008-05-27 13:29:00
On Tuesdays I normally post a picture that I've taken myself -- but in this case, it's pretty obvious that the pictures I've taken just can't compete. Here's a small piece of one of the first images sent home from the recently arrived Phoenix lander, now hard at work in the martian arctic... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #22 — Phoenix on Mars !", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/27/ the_scientific_tourist_22_--_phoenix_on_m ars/" });
More About: Astronomy , Geology , Tourist

Casual Friday ? Phoenix (nearly) on Mars
2008-05-23 14:56:00
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely run across some of the barrage of internet coverage of the upcoming (this Sunday!) arrival of the Phoenix lander at Mars . While you're waiting for the big event, you can watch this fun bit of video courtesy of the Phoenix project... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Casual Friday — Phoenix (nearly) on Mars", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/23/ casual_friday_--_phoenix_nearly_on_mars/" });
More About: Technology , Space

Carnivalia ? 5/14 - 5/20
2008-05-21 14:30:00
The past week's bounty of science-related blog carnivals... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Carnivalia — 5/14 - 5/20", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/21/ carnivalia_--_514_-_520/" });
More About: Space , Biology , Math , Humanity

The scientific tourist #21 ? Little Joe II
2008-05-20 13:29:00
This week's picture comes from the New Mexico Museum of Space History , in Alamagordo. It's of a "Little Joe II" rocket, with boilerplate Apollo command module & escape tower up top... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #21 — Little Joe II", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/20/ the_scientific_tourist_21_--_little_joe_i i/" });
More About: Technology , Tourist

Casual Friday ? ?morphing? aircraft
2008-05-16 17:40:00
Press releases and the like always need to be taken with a big grain of salt — often they contain more salesmanship (and showmanship) than they do legitimate “news.” One piece of aerospace technology which seems to be particularly prone to overselling these days is the idea of “morphing” aircraft. From the first attempts at ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Casual Friday — “morphing” aircraft", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/16/ casual_friday_--_morphing_aircraft/" });
More About: Technology , Aircraft

Carnivalia ? 5/7 - 5/13
2008-05-14 14:05:00
Last week's (mostly) science-related blog carnivals for your reading enjoyment... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Carnivalia — 5/7 - 5/13", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/14/ carnivalia_--_57_-_513/" });
More About: Space , Biology , Humanity

The scientific tourist #20 ? terrace farming
2008-05-13 14:09:00
This week's picture comes from Mesa Verde National Park in the southwestern corner of Colorado, USA... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #20 — terrace farming", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/13/ the_scientific_tourist_20_--_terrace_farm ing/" });
More About: Farming , Tourist

Maintenance
2008-05-12 15:32:00
Just wanted to let folks know that I upgraded the site's Wordpress software over the weekend. This should be entirely transparent to you, but if you find SOS behaving oddly in any way, please drop me a line and let me know... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Maintenance ", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/12/ maintenance/" });
More About: Site News

Casual Friday ? the eyes have it
2008-05-09 14:34:00
OK, I'll admit that this video has really been making the rounds this week. But I'll just pile on anyway, and present to you this very good video explaining the evolutionary process behind the eye... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Casual Friday — the eyes have it", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/09/ casual_friday_--_the_eyes_have_it/" });
More About: Eyes , Biology , Tubing

Carnivalia 4/30 - 5/6
2008-05-07 15:02:00
The past week's crop of (mostly) science-related blog carnivals... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Carnivalia 4/30 - 5/6", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/07/ carnivalia_430_-_56/" });
More About: Space , History , Astronomy , Biology , Math

The scientific tourist #19 ? the X-13
2008-05-06 14:31:00
This week's picture comes to you from the San Diego Air & Space Museum -- it's of another interesting piece of experimental aircraft history, the Ryan X-13... SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The scientific tourist #19 — the X-13", url: "http://sortingoutscience.net/2008/05/06/ the_scientific_tourist_19_--_the_x-13/" });
More About: Technology , History , Tourist