Mika McKinnon's saved articles

Reversals are a bit more complex than the media makes out... Read more

Taken from the Bolsa Chica Wetlands near Sunset Beach, Ca. about a dozen 10 second shots pasted together with starstax.....

Makes me feel better about being able to catch ~15s of it on video with just my iPhone X from all the way in Yuma, AZ. Got lucky and MECO and second stage start are visible. The lost sleep was worth it.

Side question: How much more space junk do we need to have orbiting our planet before Earth is on of the ringed planets. Because if we are close I’d be willing to start a Kickstarter or something to buy a few (trillion+) bags of glitter and get it into orbit...

Sometimes a song can express better where words fail me.

This has to be the best comment thread I’ve ever seen. It starts with logical, scientific discussion about the topic at hand, and once everyone understands, it slides into a few increasingly funny pop culture references, capped off by the “that’s no moon...” meme...perfect. No arguments and best of all, no trolls.… Read more

I’ll not mourn Cassini, it’s gone out in a blaze of glory rather than fading away, it will be years before all the data it collected is sifted through and it’s successes will inspire future scientists and space probes alike, it’s a celebration with a tear in the eye, not a funeral. Read more

Kinja is like a bacteria that keeps evolving new defenses. My original “welcome back” to you posted on the wrong article due to the infinite scrolling thing. Read more

I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE BACK! I missed your posts terribly. Especially when the other writers tend to write about earth science stuff - let’s just say not that accurately. I have more than once thought “I wish Mika had wrtten this.” Read more

Cassini: Read more

Everything heavier than helium and aluminum will sink. By now, Cassini’s core of plutonium will be making a vigorous exploration of if there’s a surface anywhere under all those clouds. Read more

The collective gasp when we lost signal, then the disbelieving chant of “It’s back it’s back it’s back it’s still breathing!!!!” before losing signal again is going to stay with me for a long time. I get goosebumps every time I replay my video of those final moments.

Once all of Cassini’s bits are dis-assembled by the deceleration trauma, will they just float around in Saturns’ atmosphere? Or, will they slowly sink to the middle of the gas ball and drift around there? Genuine curiosity here.

I knew it was aliens! Read more

An interestng way to classify cities — by whether this happens (as it doubtless does in some street or other) and what dates and times. What information would that yield?

Idiot me - I live in DC and have always been aware of the beautiful East/West alignment right around the equinox, but always thought that it was caused solely by the equinox - it never occurred to me that the angle of the alignment of the grid was really the determining factor. You mean that all city grids aren’t… Read more

And to think, 5000 years from now someone’s going to be investigating the ruins of Manhattan, and ascribing some sort of religious/mystical significance to the street grid’s orientation with the sun every May 30th.

Birmingham enjoys what they call Brumhenge on the Summer Solstice.

Chicago’s downtown grid is just 2 degrees off north, placing Chicagohenge much closer to the vernal and autumn equinoxes. The next opportunity is September 25th. Read more

A present?!!