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Stranger News
* "Amputee kids everywhere can soon get awesome, 3D-printed Star Wars prosthetics" (2015-10-17, rt.com) [archive.is/luHXx], video [https://youtu.be/gRZeC7zLYlQ], more at [www.openbionics.com]
* "Mind hack: Scientists use magnets to change attitudes on immigration, religion" (2015-10-16, rt.com) [archive.is/Ruxmx]
Space News
* NASA's EPIC: Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera [epic.gsfc.nasa.gov]
* "Hey look, it’s Earth! NASA unveils website posting daily images of our blue marble" (2015-10-20, rt.com): NASA has launched a new website offering at least a dozen color images of Earth’s sunlit side taken as recently as 12 hours earlier from a camera a million miles away on a daily basis. The images will show Earth as it rotates, covering the entire planet.
The website, which will include a searchable archive of daily images, will feature photos taken with the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). The pictures will show Earth as it rotates, featuring the entirety of the planet over a one-day period.
EPIC, a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope, takes a series of 10 three-megabyte images with various narrowband filters, such as ultraviolet or near infrared, to compile images used by scientists who study Earth’s vegetation, ozone, and cloud cover, among other variables.
"The color Earth images are created by combining three separate single-color images to create a photographic-quality image equivalent to a 12-megapixel camera,"NASA said.
EPIC has to take quick exposure images (20 to 100 milliseconds) to compensate for Earth’s brightness in the dark of space, according to NASA. The short exposure times do not allow EPIC to record fainter stars in the background.
The camera is affixed to the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), which is operated by NASA, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force, to maintain solar wind monitoring for space weather alerts and forecasts.
The website's images will be in the public domain, the agency said.
"NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records," NASA concluded. "The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing."
* "Earth Art: NASA ‘artist’ stuns Twitter with Sahara Desert pics taken from space" (2015-10-20, rt.com) [archive.is/fVnbX]
* "Free Booze, Delivery not Included: Astronomers Spot Alcohol-Spewing Comet; An international team of researchers has proved how rightfully comet C/2014 Q2 was nicknamed Lovejoy: while observing the atmosphere of the celestial body they found that it, among others, releases alcohol in crazy amounts: as much as 500 bottles of wine every second" (2015-10-24, sputniknews.com) [archive.is/Hh690]
* " ‘WTF’: Mysterious artificial space object heading towards Earth" (2015-10-26, rt.com) [archive.is/nyuOg]
* " 'Alien civilizations' may be found on 'megastructures' near Milky Way star, scientists say" (2015-10-15, rt.com) [archive.is/gbviw]
* "NASA reveals first official findings of Pluto mission" (2015-10-16, rt.com) [archive.is/s0avc]
* "Much like Earth’s Moon’: NASA releases high-res pics of Pluto’s satellite Charon" (2015-10-18, rt.com) [archive.is/PiGpF]
* "Wave near equator: NASA's Hubble Telescope animation shows Jupiter in 4k Ultra HD video" (2015-10-14, rt.com) [archive.is/NrOC4]
Ancient News
* "Cat Fur and Amber Generator: An Ancient Electricity Generator" [archive.is/jwFlg]
Image: Reproduction of a fur and amber generator - ancient Greece.
There can be no doubt that ancient civilizations were aware of static electricity even if they may not have fully understood it. They also appreciated the godlike power of lightning and must have been curious to observe this effect replicated in miniature when the fur of a cat was rubbed against certain materials in a darkened room.
The effects of static electricity were first recorded by a Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus, who lived between 624 BC and 546 BC. He is said to have experimented with amber, which the Greeks referred to as Elektron, and cat fur to create an electrical discharge as well as magnetism. From this observation a simple machine consisting of two spinning disks, one covered with leopard fur and one coated with glass or amber could be connected to gold axles and foil strips which would produce an electrical charge capable of generating sparks several inches in length.
By spinning the disks in opposite directions a static electrical charge could be transferred to the gold foil strips to create visible sparks.
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