io9 after dark

Pouds and pouds and pouds of putty...gobsmacking.

Thanks for all the info!

Total ignorance here...so a guess: Since this was part of a discarded stage was this used to keep the fuel under pressure so that it burns efficiently?

Thanks for the new info. And once again for breaking down the science. It's like having a dual translation text. One understands the foreign language but it's good to be able to check that nothing's lost in translation.

But, but...it hasn't gone away, just gray on gray. So it's there if one comes across an old ref. However, if there no reason to update its name (because, what?, it's discovered to be an alien artifact and not geological) and it still referenced (in gray) in USGS et al, why not just leave it named?? {Just having a…

By most accounts Ellison did encourage Butler when it was important. That and getting Dangerous Visions together make up for a lot of anger as dickishness. And now we're both going to be sued for not using "Trademark" with his name.

So I read USGS Bd. of Geog. Names stds. and checked out Planetary Gazeteer. Unhelpful. Do you know why names become disallowed other than common sense, i.e. sp, hist, cult, confusion, etc. Specific to Iaxartes Tholus...because it's not actually domed? And how does it "earn" a new name. It seems to need a name because…

This picture is so cool. Do you know of any articles, memoirs reporting on their experience? Was this training continued with later groups?

That first paragraph contains the seed of an Ignobel Award winning experiment.

These Dinosaur Nat'l Park postings are really interesting. More please.

Darn! I try to read your OB recaps and then get totally distracted laughing at the gif liners.

Glistening dark maw. ...shudder... A Georges Melies nightmare.

Thanks for the link, will reread more carefully tomorrow. Until recently I worked at a state library. I so miss all the online and hard copy reference resources.

What kinds of events create such a break in the magnetic field? Is the plasma already cooling and maybe less dense where the break happens or do those traits occur because of the break. Is a break more likely to occur during high activity in the solar cycle?

Thanks for the additional detail.

This is a great ingraf—thank you for the link. Really interesting and provides a clearer picture of what's going on in our neighborhood. Context...I LOVE:NEED context!

"Most debris is between 600 and 1000 kilometers altitude."

Flash reaction: ST:TOS "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"

Re gravitational waves: Because of you (and some really smart commenters) I can more fully appreciate a post like this because I know there is a difference between gravity waves and gravitational waves and even understand...a little...what that means.