The Gulf Fritillary

Butterflies are science.

I chased this little fritillary around the backyard for a while before she got comfortable enough with me to let me approach her while she was feeding.

The Gulf Fritillary is common across much of the United States, and even can be found far out over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.


Here she lighted on this tall stem and her weight pulled it over so she was practically hanging upside-down.



She landed on a variety of flowers in the yard.

You can see the silver-white orbs and streaks below on her wings.

What's happening on Saturn???

Astronomy is science.

There is no better place to let your imagination run wild than in space. So when I came across this picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft during its exploration of Saturn, I wondered. Something is piercing the F ring of Saturn.



The blog post (on Discover) where I saw it was titled "Like the fist of an angry god," and that is a great place to begin to imagine what is really going on.

"I mean, seriously: what the hell happened here?"

I'm not a big fan of science fiction, but even I could make a story out of this, as the Saturnians might be sending a probe to try to figure out why the earthlings are destroying our own planet.

Or, as the "bad astronomer" speculates,

"Is this object on an orbit that intersects the rings so that it plunges up through them and then again down into them every time it circles Saturn? If so, how does that affect the rings overall, especially over millions of years?

"Or was this a singular event, some small object whose orbit was affected by a nearby massive moon, changing its path, putting it on a collision course with Saturn’s mighty and vast ring system?"

Here's a zoom of the event.



One of the comments on The bad astronomer suggests, "Fist? No, more likely evidence of Thor’s hammer being thrown around."



Open the link and read the post and comments. And wonder.

Robins and a plant id question

Juvenile robins are science

I was cleaning out a flower bed in the front yard last week and leaned up against a crepe myrtle to rest. The tree shook, I was unaware that there was a bird nest above me, and three robin juvies flew out. The mama and the poppa were around too, and went ballistic. Sorry birdies, I didn't know you were there.






Plant identification is science

This plant and another just like it came up among the hills of squash in the garden. None of the gardeners know what it is. It has a really pretty flower.



The leaves have an almost rubbery feel and the entire plant is covered with a sticky substance that gets on your hands.



A fruit is beginning to develop.



They think some seeds must have mixed in with the squash seeds.

Hurricane killers

Stopping hurricanes is science.

Wow, I've been away from science blogging for a while. I've been concentrating on finishing a book (writing) and another new writing opportunity.

But today's article in the Birmingham News about stopping hurricanes in their tracks is intriguing. Software wiz and zillionnaire Bill Gates is seeking patents on a gizmo that would suck the warm water from the surface and replace it with cool water from the depths.

I just hope I'm not floating in a sailboat nearby when the big suck begins.

There are other problems I see with this, but I am sure these things will be taken into account. My main concern is that the rain from tropical systems, hurricanes included, often saves the southeast from drought conditions. Now if his idea just reduces the killer storm to a tropical storm and we still get the rain, then maybe OK.

And I understand his concern that climate change may be leading to more powerful and more frequent storms. So getting ahead of the game is good.

"This type of technology is not something humankind would try as a 'Plan A' or 'Plan B, ' " he (Paul Holman) wrote. "These inventions are a 'Plan C' where humans decide that we have exhausted all of our behavior changing or alternative energy options and need to rely on mitigation technologies."

Lots of people on blogs and on al.com are noting that concern about weather patterns and heat transfer and such and are warning not to mess with Mother Nature.

47 million year old ancestor?

Fossils are Science

A 47 million year old fossil is shedding light on evolution and human ancestry. The skeleton was found in Germany. Read it here.

Picture credit The Guardian

From that story:

"She tells so many stories. We have just started the research on this fabulous specimen," said Jorn Hurum, of the University of Oslo Natural History Museum, one of the scientists reporting the find.

Read about Hurum here.

Photo credit Atlantic Productions

She just might be our direct ancestor. Or an "aunt."



Read about the upcoming film here.

And liftoff....

STS-125 is Science

"And, liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis, the final visit to enhance the vision of Hubble into the deepest grandeur of our universe."




Keep up to date on the mission here, at NASA.

Here's what's on tap for today:

STS-125 Crew to Inspect Heat Shield, Prepare for Rendezvous with Hubble

During their first full day in orbit, the STS-125 crew members will inspect space shuttle Atlantis’ heat shield and prepare for Wednesday’s rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope.

The crew will use Atlantis’ robotic arm and orbiter boom extension to check out the spacecraft’s underside and the leading edges of its wings. The inspections are conducted to see if any damage occurred to the heat shield during the climb to orbit that began when Atlantis lifted off at 2:01 p.m. EDT Monday from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

The crew members will check out tools they will use during the rendezvous with the telescope. They also are slated to check out spacesuits they will use during the mission’s five scheduled spacewalks.

A Rare Sight in Bessemer

Is this Science? This was spotted in Bessemer today. This is a close up.

One might think it is the backdrop for those Baptist Princeton Hospital Ads, but it's really just the blue sky, something of a rarity over the last week or so.


Here's another view.


Why is the sky blue? Here's the answer, at Science Made Simple with charts and figures and all. Basically, though, the answer is that the light from the sun is scattered after hitting gas molecules in the atmosphere (this is caused Rayleigh scattering). The scattering is more effective at short wavelengths or the blue end of the spectrum.

In space, the sky looks black because there is no scattering, since there is no atmosphere.

Enjoy the sky, and the clouds. Lay in the grass and look up at the clouds and name the shapes. Act like a kid.

Wooly Mulleins are science. This is a Wooly Mullein. Verbascum thapsus. Also called Great Mullein. There are several species and hybrids of mulleins. So maybe its not, but anyway, it's a weed, they say, but I have a difficult time killing one. I will mow around them, as I have this one for two years (they are biennials) or plant around them. There are a couple coming up next to my gate by the sidewalk in front. I guess I will just let them grow.