∞ X ∞ = ∞

still a little bit of their beauty is captured in the man made technology

Sometimes I think we are alone in the universe and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case the idea is quite staggering

Arthur C Clarke (via eearth)

A close-up of an enhanced-color image of Jupiter’s clouds obtained by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

NASA/SWRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran / New York Times                 

The Usborne Book of the Future

How I Discovered Halley’s Comet, by Edmond Halley

On Monday, June 10, in the Evening, the Sky being very serene and calm, I was desirous to take a view of the disk of Mars (then very near the Earth, and appearing very glorious) to see if I could distinguish in my 24 Foot Telescope, the Spots said to be seen on him. Directing my Tube for the purpose, I accidentally fell upon a small whitish Appearance near the Planet, resembling in all respects such a Nebula … The Reverend Mr. Miles Williams, Mr. Alban Thomas, and myself contemplated this Appearance for above an Hour … and we could not be deceiv’d as to its Reality; but the slowness of its Motion made us at that time conclude that it had none, and that it was rather a Nebula than a Comet.

Read more. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]

I'm curious about the physics of bottle rockets. In the novel I'm writing, my characters use bottle rockets as weapons. They tape sharpened sticks to the rockets and use them as projectile spears. What would be the velocity of a bottle rocket with a stick taped to it? What kind of damage would it inflict? Love your blog! Thank you!

The final velocity depends on a lot of variables, like the trajectory, weight, fuel being used, burn rate of the fuel, size of the bottle, etc. However, you can be assured that they can be harmful and with the right pointy sticks, they can be deadly.

Here’s one example:

Good luck with your novel!

tfw your inactive blog gets a whole bunch of notes out of nowhere and you wonder if you could ever bring it back to life

This “Pyrite Sun” may look like a sand dollar, but it is actually a concretion that was found in Illinois.